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Second Lawsuit Filed In Boy Scout Sex Assault Case

December 22, 2016

Dave Altimari, Hartford Courant. HARTFORD — A second lawsuit has been filed against a former Boy Scout troop leader, alleging that he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old boy in a house in Ledyard owned by the organization in the 1990s.

The lawsuit alleges that Joseph Dabrow sexually assaulted a boy referred to as “James Doe” numerous times over three years at Dabrow’s Ledyard home, which doubled as the meeting place for Troop #42. The assaults took place in the mid-1990s, when James Doe was 9-12 years old.

Dabrow had been convicted of child pornography and sexually assaulting a minor in the 1990s.

The new lawsuit alleges that, on several occasions while Dabrow and James Doe were alone at 56 Highland Drive, Dabrow took photos and/or video of the boy while he was naked, with the intent of using the images to distribute to other child pornographers.

Besides Dabrow, the lawsuit names the Boy Scouts’ Connecticut Rivers Council, a regional Boy Scouts supervisor and the national Boy Scout office based in Texas, claiming they improperly vetted Dabrow as a potential scoutmaster and allowed him to hold scout meetings at his home.

It is the second lawsuit making similar allegations that has been filed in Hartford Superior Court against Dabrow in the past few months by attorney Paul Slager of Silver Golub & Teitell. Slager said he couldn’t comment on whether there will be more lawsuits.

After the first lawsuit was filed, Steven A. Smith, Scout executive and CEO of the Connecticut Rivers Council, Boy Scouts of America, said that once the group learned of Dabrow’s arrest, immediate action was taken to remove him from any programs.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our youth members and we are profoundly saddened when anyone uses their position to harm children,” Smith said. “The Boy Scouts of America extends its deepest sympathies to any person who has been hurt by child sexual abuse. While we cannot discuss ongoing litigation, any instance of child victimization or abuse is intolerable and unacceptable.”

Dabrow was arrested by FBI agents in April 1998 on pornography charges as he left the driveway of the Ledyard house. A 12-year-old boy was in the car with him at the time of his arrest.

Dabrow served five years in federal prison on the pornography charges. He also was charged in state court with fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He received a suspended sentence on those charges.

But Dabrow was returned to prison in 2003 for violating his probation after he admitted to his probation officer that he had kissed and fondled a 16-year-old boy in Hicksville, N.Y., where he was living at that time.

The latest lawsuit alleges that Boy Scout officials and other troop leaders were aware that Dabrow brought boy scouts to his home as part of the youth program that he organized and was alone with them on numerous occasions.